In 1966, at his father’s insistence, Roger Burleson ordered a black-on-black 1966 Chevy II Nova SS with the optional L79 V-8 engine as his high school graduation present. Over 48 years, it’s accumulated just 52,000 miles, none of them in quarter-mile increments. Described as wearing mostly original paint, with a mostly original interior, this single-owner, single-year muscle car will cross the stage in Indianapolis later this week, giving one lucky bidder a chance to own an uncommon piece of muscle car history.

Though this seems like science fiction today, in 1966 it was possible to walk into a Chevrolet dealership and order a Corvette-engined Chevy II Nova, at a price affordable to nearly anyone with a full-time job. Those preferring show over go could also order the Super Sport trim package with a sensible 194-cu.in. inline six-cylinder engine, but those craving acceleration knew to check the order box for the Corvette’s L79 V-8, which delivered 350 horsepower from its 327-cu.in. displacement. Mated to a Muncie four speed and equipped with the Positraction rear and 3.73:1 gearing, a stock L79 Nova was capable of running from 0-60 MPH in 7.2 seconds, completing the quarter-mile in 15.1 seconds at a trap speed of 93 MPH. Bolting on a few aftermarket parts and a set of drag slicks could easily drop that time into the 12-second range, at a speed of 115 MPH.

While many low-mileage L79 Novas have led hard lives, Burleson’s car isn’t one of them. Although he admits to the occasional (and ill-advised) street throw-down, his Nova has never been to the drag strip, and in nearly five decades, it’s reportedly never been to a car show or cruise-in, either. Showing almost superhuman restraint, Burleson and his family have enjoyed the car sparingly, and in keeping with family tradition, his own three children have driven the car to their high school proms. It’s said to have been garaged since 1972, which explains why much of its paint is described as original.

Many L79 Novas ordered for drag strip duty were base models, devoid of luxury amenities like a heater or a radio in order to save weight. Burleson’s Nova, on the other hand, is fairly well-equipped with the Super Sport trim package, a center console, an AM radio, Custom Deluxe color-matched seat belts, the Positraction differential (with 3.73 gearing) and dual outside mirrors. Though some of the components have been changed over the years (like the Nova’s original Holley four-barrel carburetor and the original alternator), the parts are included in the sale, as is a stack of documentation and in-period photographs showing the history of the car with the Burleson family.

It’s believed that between 200 and 300 1966 Chevy II Nova models were built with the optional L79 V-8, and few can claim the pampered, single-owner existence of this example. That will surely have an effect on the selling price, which Mecum predicts will be in the $200,000 to $225,000 range, in line with an award-winning, restored 1966 Chevy II Nova SS L79 that sold for $207,500 at last year’s Kissimmee, Florida sale.

Whenever I read of cars like this I think, wow, what a sad story – all the fun the owner could have had with the car, but now never will. Low mileage, unused cars are a monument to missed opportunities and time gone by forever, never to be recaptured.

It sounds as though the original owners did enjoy this car, with each of the children using it for their high school proms. And 50k miles or so means that this car has never been a trailer queen. The owners certainly aren’t about to miss the opportunity to make a hefty profit on their stewardship of this car.

I would have to agree with you. Hopefully some of those miles were done doing very tight circles in the mall parking lot. I don’t see the point of having a car like that and not abusing it. I guess that is why I never be able to sell one of my car for more than I paid for it.

I bought my 96 Firebird Formula Ram Air new, drove it very little, and when I put it into winter storage in the fall of 1999, it ended up staying there until the spring of 2012. Of course, that’s when I found out how rare it is (one of one Ram Air Formulas painted purple). Do I continue to store it, or drive it?

Seeing all those low mile cars, and stories about them that don’t include driving pleasure, I am now driving it as much as I can. It will still have lots of life left when I can no longer shove in the clutch petal, so why not enjoy it.

Missed opportunities never to be recaptured? Happy to say it won’t be with this car.

Yes, it’s a mechanical device thats designed to be used, and yes they all wear out at some stage. If they’re going to be used as intended by the manufacturer, drive-restore-drive certainly is the most practical, enjoyable, and most common sense approach. Happy days to the person who buys this beautiful car!

Graham, good for you. I own a ’57 T-Bird which I bought to drive and enjoy. I’m over 70 and one never knows how much time is left on ones clock so when I’m done having my fun I’ll let my son decide whether he wants to drive and enjoy as I have done or sell her and get something of his own choosing. You are so right about missed opportunities. We get, too soon old, and, too late smart.

I met a local older gentleman once that drove a 1930s Bentley he picked up as a service member in Europe in the 1950s. His grown children worked with him to find a way for it to stay in the family and continue to be used. Now that’s much better than just some memory of driving dad’s Nova to the prom…

People that pay $200k for a Nova are never going to think practicality about the purchase. They are way past having to do that. Chances are they already have those 3 new Corvettes. Just saw a TV show where Rick Hendrick picked up 3 of the new Corvettes. One of them cost him a million dollars, and for whatever reason GM included a second car. Sticker on each car was $75k.

Rick Hendrick WANTED the FIRST PRODUCTION C7 Corvette Stingray off the assembly line, and was willing to pay for it. He also has the first C6 Corvette ZR-1 off the line.
Must be something in the heads of successful new car dealers. Ford dealer Sam Pack of Texas (four stores) recently won the privilege from Ford of getting the FIRST RETAIL-SALE PRODUCTION 2015 Mustang off the line. That car is going into his personal collection.

Hendrick seems to have no limits. Read about him a few years ago in the book ‘Arrogance and Accords’, about how far he was willing to go, to be the top Honda retailer in North Carolina.

i bought a L79 black on black nova in the spring of 1979 ,payed $550 for the car just had a new baby and was poor as church mouse ,but i had the gotta have’s ,so i went to my local bank (when they still existed) ,and got a signiture loan ,this car was nice ,still had its original paint ,these cars and like could be had a great prices in the years of the gas crunch ,every one wanted pinto’s and diesel rabbits, i had the car for about a month and traded it for a yellow w/black interior 340 4spd plymouth duster ,of course these were the days when the money changers were still putting there money in the stock market ,and leaving us poor working slobs alone ,so we could still afford a nice muscle car ,or could still buy our first home ,i have several cars now from resto to rat rod ,and i drive every one of them all the time ,if you just want to invest in somthing .buy gold plated widgits and leave the old cars to those who know what they were made for ,

Further, now everybody with a garden variety Nova will think they can get “almost” as much for their bondo bucket Chevy II because “it’s almost the same as that black car that sold for $200,000″. I do not see the attraction whatsoever to this car, and even if I had that kind of cash, it would never be on my radar. Just another Nova, really.

“Survivor” cars are all the rage in today’s market. Unlike 100 point, frame off and meticulously restored “trailer queens”, they can be driven and should be driven. This is a BIG difference, at least to me.

This is a very cool Nova although I think the estimated selling price is a bit optimistic. It is my understanding that there were 5,481 L79 Chevy II’s built in 1966. To my knowledge there is no breakdown by body style, but the 200 – 300 number is generally used for the number of two door posts built. I have not seen an unrestored L79 Chevy II in over 30 years, but I don’t think that the engine color thermostat housing is correct. I think it should be aluminum to match the intake. Are there any experts out there who can chime in on this? I’m going down to Indy tommorow and Saturday, so I will make sure to check this one out further.

Myron, the housing is correct. Back in ’66 they didn’t think about color matching. The ’66 Chevy II was offered with a 220hp 283 that used a Rochester two-screw and a 275hp 327 that used a Rochester Quadrajet – both engines had cast instead of aluminum intakes, but the housing used was the same on all three.

Thermostat housings always seem to look like they are painted after they are installed. Bolts never seem to have any chips in the paint, and the housing never seems to look like it has been off, or at least never like it was touched after painting.

I did some more checking on this and that thermostat housing was used on aluminum intakes in the 65 to 67 time frame. It wasn’t used on cast intakes. The thermostat housing was also bare metal from the factory and not painted Chevy engine orange, aluminum or any other color. This is according to a Nova specific forum in their restoration section.

It would not surprise me to find that the original owner had a chrome housing on it at one time, only to have it start leaking due to corrosion of the gasket surface. Likely replaced the housing with one off of another engine.
After looking at the engine picture some more, it appears the intake has been off as well. Looks to have the neoprene gasket across the leading edge of the valley.

I would love to own this car. I disagree with both previous posts. Price seems about right for one of maybe 10 cars that exist today with complete authenticity. And as for use, its pretty obvious to me that the car was enjoyed by the family, or it would have been gone.

Someone at Mecum must be smoking crack, no way this Nova is going to bring that kind of money.
Owner must have set a very high reserve knowing it would not sell. Should have enjoyed it more instead of keeping it in the garage.

We’ll await the auction results, but guess we’ll hold onto the ’66 CHEVY II Nova wagon we purchased new with all the same specs, including front bucket seats. Dark blue exterior; tan interior. One owner. Restored. Our three kids learned to drive with this car! Two HD clutches later it is still an amazing performer.

Wonderful family tradition. Keeping the car for the Prom.
Teaching the young people respect.. Those car engineers, designers, plant workers and retail car dealers of those years deserve respect. Now films show and trash cars for the thrill factor and the box office money. In my opinion, that does not teach all the teen film patrons respect. Cheers to those owners.

In 1964, I was shopping for a new car at a Chevrolet dealer in Culver City, California. While talking to the salesman in his cubicle, the teletype that I was sitting next to started printing. It announced that Chevrolet would once again build the cancelled Chevy II, but to counter the Mustang, it could be purchased with a 220 hp 283, Muncie 4-speed, dual exhaust and sintered metallic brake linings. I ordered it in the SS trim before the teletype finished printing.

Upon delivery, I drove the car about one mile to Hedman Hedders and requested a set of headers for the car. Since they had never seen a V8 Nova, they GAVE me and installed the prototype setup, gratis! I then took the car to Traction Masters on Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles and they provided me with 90/10 front shocks and 50/50 shocks in the rear. They also gave me two different types of traction bars. The car needed them because the single-leaf rear springs would hop under power.

This car was a blast to drive. I trophied at Lions Drag Strip on my second date with my girlfriend (we’re still married today). This was one of the two cars that I wish that I still had. The other was a ’50 Olds with an Olds J-2 and a ’37 La Salle trans.

Today, we tool around in our 1934 Dodge (stock). This car gets frequent movie and TV spots and pays for itself.

I wish I knew who the buyer were going to be so I could offer up my car before the deal happened! He could have that same factory-installed L79 (with the original carb) but in my ’66 Sting Ray Coupe with only 45,000 miles on it for the same price, and I could make a quick $160,000 profit. Then I could go buy five more L79 Sting Ray Coupes and start again.

I had a Nova once, the low performance model, but it was special to me. It was a red 63′ hardtop with a 6 cyl. and 3 on the tree. It belonged to my grandparents who bought it new at Lyman Slack Chevrolet in Portland. My grandmother pulled out in traffic and got t-boned in 1986. The car had 40k miles on it. It was given to me because my siblings thought it was beyond hope. A donor door, a quarter panel clip and a lot of love had the old girl looking like new. Then all of my siblings were mad at me for getting it. I foolishly sold it…..so sad.

What a crazy console – does that metallic piece surrounding the shifter slide back-and-forth as you row through the gears? The slot looks just big enough for side-side movement, and that’s it. Also, the radio looks like it would have fit in the late (’65-’69) Corvairs.

He’s shown remarkable restraint – I’d have melted down the tires at least a few times with this thing.

In 1967 I bought a L-79 engine out of a wrecked Chevelle for $300.00 (no carb-dist-fuel pump-starter-or exh.manifolds). I put it into my 64 Biscayne, originally a 283. Wow– what a engine. Never had to adjust valve lash-hyd.lifters.Only problem was throwing the fan belt if I took it over 7,000 on the tach. Had to be a real ass kicker in a Nova body. Great Memories-would love to own that Nova& do some “STREET CLEANING” !!

“At his father’s insistence” ?! Know what MY Dad ‘insisted’ on? That I sit up straight in my chair & quit slouching like a bum! LOL
Where was THIS guy’s father when I was growing up? Obviously I wasn’t born into a motor-head’s family like this guy was! Talk about feeling “robbed”…….

I owned one of these in 1971- bought it used in San Diego,CA Marina Blue with black interior- the biggest difference not mentioned, was they came with GM’s 12 bolt heavy duty positraction differential- The car was a blast to drive- so much h.p. for a light vehicle

To own a car that long, with all the memories that have to be tied to it, and then just sell it……I suspect there’s going to be sellers remorse after the deal is done. It’s like kicking a family member out of the house.

The Nova is worth what someone else will pay for it. It is unusual, and probably a blast to drive. I think they should keep the car, unless there is a pressing financial need and drive it. Everybody above who drives their cars is a hero. That’s why they were bought.

Well I still have my 71 RS Camaro 350 4 speed (Hurst) cause I disliked Muncie. It has about 86k miles, driven & loved but never at the track. Orig 2bbl & all numbers match. Garage kept since 1983 aft restoration. I keep saying I will sell but it is one of the last links to my late husband. & I am a sucker for memories. I fear driving for 2 reasons – the ticket lurking on the highway & or some idiot hitting me. To each his own when it comes to drive or garage…

I thought the same thing when I read it, but then remembered that for some reason people seem to think the shifter name is the make of transmission. We can thank GM for that, guess what it said on the stock shifter stick on a Muncie transmission.
It said Muncie. Not sure what the stock shifter had on it when you got the Saginaw trans.

When I got it, the Saginaw in my ’66 Chevelle didn’t have a name on the shifter and I wouldn’t have put my name on it either! As I recall the used Muncie I bought from Bandimere came with a no name stock shifter that was replaced by a Hurst within two pay checks! The first of many upgrades.

My 3rd grade teacher bought the tame version of this car in red that year. It was a great looking car & didn’t look dated for years, if ever. Great design!

I still have my first car, a 1958 pink & white Ford Thunderbird with all the options. I bought it in November, 1971. Both my daughters graduated from college last weekend, so maybe now I can finally spend money on my T-Bird instead of kids.

I would never sell my T-Bird, but then again no one has ever offered me 200 thousand dollars for it either.

That’s true of almost any new car, Bill. Although, 50 mpg with the Accord hybrid and more safety and comfort than any classic car could ever dream of giving its owner isn’t something to take lightly. That being said, I agree that the passion is with older vehicles; the new ones are safety cocoons for driving from point A to point B, in general.

What a coincidence, the new HCC showed up today (#118) and starting on page 62 is a great story about a 1964 Chevy II Nova “Super Sport” with the 194 straight six in it. Quite a difference from the one in the story above, but just as beautiful. I wonder what the price difference would be between these two cars? Classic cars are more (all?) about the memories for me, I could care less what one is worth over another one. Life is too short to worry about money.

I have to show this article to my mom! In ’73 when l got my license at 17 l had $800 burning a hole in my pocket to buy my first car. Sure enough l found a ’66 L-79 in butternut yellow and black interior! My mother went with me to look at it. The owner opened the hood to reveal the little block and a set of fender-well headers. I was in love! He wanted $800 and l offered him $600. He said he would call back. Of course he sold it to the next guy for $700! I would have gladly paid the 8 bills. I did wind up with a Mandarin red 66 with 4 speed and bench seat – a non SS with 283. I rebuilt the motor and used the 350 horse cam! What a monster! Too bad l sold it when my fiancé refused to learn stick!

Owning that car for 48 yrs and selling it? WTF,does he really need the money that bad??
I’ve owned my 71 Z28 for 42 years and would NEVER sell it. No matter what the price!!! I have too many GREAT memories and stories with that car. It’s been in calendars and Camaro books/mags etc. It’s truly as Stevie Ray sings “My Pride and Joy”.( Tuxedo Black w/ white stripes,Rock Crusher and 41K miles.

When my wife and I got married, we went looking for a car for her. In the Recycler was an ad for a 1980 Monte Carlo (the small ones) with a 1966 Corvette 327 fuel injected, electronic igniiton 350 horse motor stuffed in it. Of course I didn’t tell my wife, but made the mistake in the test drive of asking the seller “Can I punch it?”

Of course the Monte Carlo made the Corvette honk, smoked both tires and hit 60 mph in about six seconds. My wife was pinned to the back seat and yelled “NO! WE ARE NOT BUYING THIS CAR!” over the exhaust noise.

So she got a “Brass Hat” Cavalier. Put 200,000 miles on in, with only a blown head gasket (my fault) that I fixed myself. Love them 2 liter pushrod Chevy motors.

In 1969 my budy came into our High School Auto Shop class and told me a local car dealer JUST took one in on trade- The original owner decided it was too hot to handle and traded it in. It was JUST put on the used car lot that morning and my buddy wanted it. WE CUT CLASS and headed out to get it. MAN That car became a local LEGEND.. We did put a set of fender-well headers on it and bought some tires. Not easy to get real GOOD tires then, but we did what we could.

I still have my 1966 SS chevy II with 52,000 original miles but it don’t look nothing like this one. I am in the process of restoring it. The bad news for me is i put the original engine in a corvette i rebuilt and sold it years ago. I am going to put a correct engine back in it. After reading this i think i am going to work on it a little harder to finish it and wonder why i let get in the condition it is in at this time. Good news is that it does have a running engine at this time. Can’t wait for auction results on this one.

When younger and these cars weren’t yet 10 years old, I helped “detune” a Nova for a Wholesaler who claimed he couldn’t sell the car as it was. It got a mild 327, nice Saginaw and a 10 bolt. He was happy and we got the engine as payment. The 12 Bolt rear end was swapped into another Nova for a small fee to the Wholesaler and I don’t recall where the 4 speed went. I didn’t feel good about that one and still don’t.

About ’93, I visited a friend’s shop where he was Pro Streeting (cutting up) a Black on Black L79. I cringed that the owner, who I was acquainted with, was cutting up his car that I had tried to buy earlier – perhaps trying to make up for that other one. The Pro Streeted car was sold within a year of completion because his wife didn’t like riding in it.

I was at the auction on Friday and Saturday. There were a lot of beautiful cars there. This Chevy II was bid to $175K and didn’t sell. It looked pretty good in person as well, although the paint was spider webbed. That’s not uncommon though for original paint Tuxedo Black Chevrolets from that era.

I am a friend of the owner and attended the auction with him. I can assure you that it was an emotional and agonizing decision to put the car up for auction. The main reason for doing so was because of the value of the car he couldn’t bring himself to drive it for fear of an accident. He enjoyed the auction experience and was both relieved and dismayed by the results. He will bring the car home put it back in his climate controlled garage, start it periodically and drive it spareingly. It’s a great car, with lots of memories and will continue to be kept original.

..WHAT VERY DIFFERENT ABOUT `66-67 CHEVYII , IS THAT THE OIL PAN AND OIL PUMP PICK UP WERE FORWARD DEEP…YESSIR, PICTURE A SBC OIL PAN, ITS FORWARD, 6CYL, SAME…THE WAY THE ENGINE SITS IN THE SUBFRAME… I BUILT A 67 IN 72, WISH I STILL HAD IT TOO…1..THX HEMMINGS!

In early ’67 I was working at a church in north hollywood. One of the young guys worked at the Van Nuys assembly plant. His ride was a Nova or chevy II. It was fitted with a 396 big block and a four speed. Now I am not sure if it was 66 or 67 but it was apparently rare because he ordered it himself off the line and everyone knew it was his as it went down the line. It had awesome accelleration.
I was into fords so did not really know my chevys. But could have sworn the guy said it was a 66. Could that be possible?

Working on the assembly line in the 60′s was far different than it is today. The JIT(Just In Time) concept was still tucked away in some baby’s brain, maybe even in the dad’s testicle. I was living in Oshawa in the 60′s, and t heard more than once about the worker who followed his car down the line, having undocumented options added. Keep in mind that in the 60′s, the options were pretty basic compared to today. Getting the AM/FM with Reverb and the add-in 8 track and a rear speaker was the top of the line radio. For the most part I believed it was possible, and likely happened, but, getting a big block in place of the small block would be pushing it. The 66-67 did not have the big block as an option, but, that does not mean the Van Nuys plant did not have them available. Camaro was built there in 67, and it came with the same sub-frames as the Chevy II/Nova and could be had with the 396 in the SS model. I think getting it done in a 66 was likely not going to happen.

Not really. Deming (1900-1993), an American who helped our war effort with many ideas like statistical process control, went to Japan with his experience from WWII. After WWII, American companies were not interested in process control.

JIT came out of him and Toyota in the 1940s and 1950s. One of the top Japanese engineering award is even named after him (a pretty big recognition from a largely insular nation). Of course we didn’t start paying attention to his ideas until the 80s…

Fun story, but I don’t believe it. The ’67 suspension was still the Falcon-type used in ’62. It would have required a special oil pan at least. The ’68 redesign shared suspension with the Camaro and could accommodate a big block.

I stand corrected in both cases, it wasn’t until I had pressed Submit that I remembered about the shock towers in the Chevy II. I did a build up on a 66 Chevy II with a 327 full roller engine, tunnel ram, 4 speed, using fender well headers. I do not recall ever seeing a 63-67 Chevy II with standard headers, they were all using fender well type. Not a pleasant engine to change plugs or set valves on hot, Car also had 4.88 gears and a spool in it. It was one of those street cars that could carry the front wheels about 6 inches in the air across the 3 lane intersection before the shift to 2nd. Nasty fun car to drive, straight. Any lane changes had to be planned in advance. Spool made the steering feel very loose. Lots of turn before it actually would start to wander off in the direction you wanted. Took a while to figure out that a real soft sidewall tire made the lane changes easier.
The oil pan ahead of the subframe always struck me as being odd, sort of like how people walking on downtown sidewalks with a baby in a stroller. When they cross the busy streets, they push the kid out first in the stroller to test the waters… much like the oil pan being the test of “how high is that curb” question.

How fortunate the owner is to still have this rare classic. I just wish I still had mine. The window price was around $2,200 as I recall. The thermostat housing was silver in color. However, I spotted an obvious missing item. On the L79 there was a rubber water hose leading from the top of the water pump into the front of the intake manifold. Look at the photo of the engine and you will see it is missing (the two plugs are in place where the hose is supposed to be). Perhaps the owner had to replace the water pump and didn’t replace this small hose. As for performance in its day, it was a turn key drag car. Mine was identical to this one, however it was red on red and equipped with a 4:88 posi and Doug’s fenderwell headers but otherwise stock. It would “chirp” the tires in all four gears and hit the traps at 113 mph 12:90s on Casler recap slicks. I sold mine in 1978 for $850 when I bumped my head and ordered a new air-conditioned Chevy van. Ah for the good old days!

Wasn’t that hose used when the heater was bypassed? I am not sure, but, I seem to recall that those two lines went to the heater core. When heater box was removed or car came as heater delete, there was a bypass hose installed.

That may have been the case on cars with the heater delete Doug, but in my street driven car the heater was always operable with both hoses shown in the photo in addition to the small “third” hose I mentioned. Nice to hear your comments about changing spark plugs with those fenderwell headers. I can certainly relate. Ouch!

At the age of 16, I had a generous father who bought me a Marina Blue S.S. L-79 with an M-22 Rock Crusher and a 12 bolt Posi. I speed shifted the original T- shifter so much that it tore up. I installed a Hurst Comp. Plus shifter and problem solved. I tryed to run it at a local strip with poor results. I had a 22 year old friend with more strip experience who could get all of the potential out of the car and we won some races. All we used were low profile cheater slicks and un-hooked the exaust and adjusted the orginal Holly 600. I had alot of fun but I did not like other people wanting to street race. I wish I had he car back. THANKS

A good friend working at a chevy agency in 1964 bought a 2 door post. The only options were an AM radio. 195 HP 283 and a four speed. It was black with a red fabric bench seat interior. He installed an early corvette solid lifter cam, a 300 HP 327 Intake with the 500 cfm AFB and dual exhaust. He needed to sell it with a baby on the way and I bought the car from him in late 1964. With 3:08 open rear end and the single leaf springs it was a so-so street racer because it was such a bitch to get it rolling. The 283 had a healthy top end capacity though and several times I was able to run down a GTO or 442 at the end of the race. It also handled poorly with the Mickey Mouse front suspension and the tiny Rayon ply tires. It also had tiny drum brakes and you’d feel them fading in a quarter mile shutdown or driving downhill mountain roads. For all it’s faults I wish I ahd it today. Todays aftermarket stuff could fix all of its weaknesses. I moved on to a 327 4spd 1965 Chevelle with 300 hp which I upgraded into an L79 long block while maintaining the original intake and carb. Sighhhhh